How to Complete Boarding the Frigate in ARC Raiders: Board, Sabotage, Escape

How to Complete Boarding the Frigate in ARC Raiders

You cannot damage the Frigate from the outside. The only way to progress the encounter is to board it by disrupting a reclaimer drone that flies down to the surface, then riding it back up. Once aboard, shoot yellow nodes and flip switches to open the internal paths, then raise and destroy the Power Cores in the centre of the ship. The quest completes as soon as you damage a Rocketeer, a Vaporizer and a Hydra turret. You do not need to kill any of them. You escape on a reclaimer.

That is the whole loop in one paragraph. The rest of this guide covers what to bring, how each step works, and the mistakes that waste runs.

What You Need Before You Deploy

The Frigate was added in the Frozen Trail 2.0 update, which launched on October 8, 2026 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. It does not exist in older builds, so update first.

• Access to a Frigate map condition. The ARC Operation can roll on Dam Battlegrounds, Buried City, Spaceport, The Blue Gate, Riven Tides and Pendola Pass. Check the map condition before you deploy. There is no way to force it.
• The "Boarding the Frigate" quest active. The Frigate is a Map Condition, and this is the quest that introduces it. Track it so the objective markers stay visible.
• A Grappling Hook. Strongly recommended. It lets you reach the reclaimer quickly and skip several internal traversal stages on the way out.
• An anti-ARC loadout. Bring something that can punch through a Rocketeer, a Vaporizer and a Hydra turret. You only need to land damage, not kills, so mid-tier weapons are viable.
• Two other raiders, or a willingness to coordinate with strangers. The Power Core levers at the centre of the ship require three simultaneous activations. A solo run cannot complete the sabotage objective. Plan for this before you deploy, not after you board.
• PvPvE awareness. The Frigate is excluded from the PvE matchmaking toggle, so other Raiders can board the same ship. Plan for contest.

Step 1: Wait for the Frigate and Spot a Reclaimer

Reports place the Frigate's patrol near Pendola Pass, around the fallen Emperor, and describe it arriving early in the round. Treat the exact timing and location as reported rather than confirmed, and check your map condition markers on deployment.

The Frigate periodically releases smaller circular ARC drones. These are reclaimers, and they fly down to scan the surface before returning to the ship.

Do not approach the hull itself. Giant turrets on the Frigate's underside open fire if you get too close, so keep your distance while you wait. Watch the sky for the reclaimer's descent path and move to where it will land, not where it currently is.

Step 2: Disrupt the Reclaimer and Ride It Up

1. Climb or grapple on top of the reclaimer once it settles at surface level.
2. When the "Disrupt" prompt appears, hold the interact key to trigger it. This is the boarding trick. A disrupted reclaimer returns to the Frigate automatically, carrying you with it.
3. Stay on the drone. While you are riding it you are protected by an active shield and take no damage, so do not panic-fire or jump off mid-flight.

Expect other Raiders to be racing for the same reclaimer. Arriving first, or arriving with a teammate, is the difference between boarding and watching someone else board.

Step 3: Open the Internal Passageways

Inside, the Frigate is a linear gauntlet of corridors and sealed doors rather than an open arena.

• Flip switches to open the main paths. Look for a wall-mounted interactable with a "Activate" prompt.
• Shoot the yellow nodes when a door has no switch. These are the glowing yellow destructible links holding sections shut, and they break under gunfire rather than interaction.
• Use the Grappling Hook to skip stages where the intended route loops back on itself.

Expect ARC resistance throughout, including the new Hydra turret, which is split into three stacked autonomous portions with triple weaponry. Do not try to clear it on sight. You only need to damage it for the quest.

Step 4: Damage the Rocketeer, Vaporizer and Hydra

Quest completion requires damaging all three of these enemies, not killing them. That distinction matters, because chasing a kill on a Rocketeer or a Hydra wastes ammo and time.

Reports put the Hydra and Vaporizer thresholds at roughly 100 damage each. Treat this as a reported detail rather than a confirmed number, and simply confirm the objective ticks over in your tracker before moving on.

The Rocketeer is the one most likely to punish you while you are distracted by the Hydra, so clear your angles before committing. If an objective does not register, land a few more hits. The tracker updates on damage dealt, not on the enemy's death.

Step 5: Raise and Destroy the Power Cores

The sabotage objective sits at the centre of the ship, where the Power Cores are housed.

The central core must be raised first, and that takes three raiders activating nearby levers. This is a co-op gate, not a solo one. If you are running with fewer than three, work with other Raiders in the lobby. The Frigate forces collaboration even though it is a PvPvE space.

Once the core is up, destroy the Power Cores to complete the sabotage.

Step 6: Escape on a Reclaimer

Head back the way you came. The exit route mirrors the entry route, so the switches and yellow nodes you already opened stay open. Use the Grappling Hook to cut the return trip short.

The reclaimer that carried you up does not wait docked for your return. New reclaimers cycle down from the Frigate on a timer, so make your way to a landing point and board the next one that settles. If none appears, hold position at a known landing site rather than wandering the corridors, and ride out on the next drone that arrives.

Quest rewards reportedly include Snap Hook, Wolfpack, Rascal I and three Launcher ammo. Embark has not published the Frigate's full loot table, so treat anything beyond these quest items as unverified.

Common Mistakes That Waste Runs

• Shooting the Frigate from the ground. It cannot be damaged from outside. Every minute spent plinking the hull is a minute not spent finding a reclaimer.
• Getting too close to the underside. The hull turrets fire on proximity. Approach the reclaimer, not the ship.
• Jumping off the reclaimer mid-flight. You are shielded while riding it. Bailing out early drops you back to the surface with the ship gone.
• Trying to solo the Power Cores. Three levers, three raiders. If you cannot find partners, wait for other players to board rather than burning the round.
• Killing instead of damaging. Chasing a kill on the Rocketeer or Hydra wastes ammo and time when the quest only checks that you dealt damage.
• Forgetting it is PvPvE. The Frigate is excluded from the PvE toggle. Other Raiders can and will board the same ship. Some will help with the levers, some will not.
• Assuming the loot table. Only the quest rewards are reported. Do not plan a farming route around drops that have not been confirmed.

Running the Frigate for the Frozen Trail Quest Chain

Bank the quest rewards, reportedly Snap Hook, Wolfpack, Rascal I and three Launcher ammo, and check whether they feed into any of the other 21 quests added in Frozen Trail 2.0.

Learn the Hydra's attack pattern on a repeat run. It is one of three new enemies added in the update alongside the Bully and Skulker, and it shows up outside the Frigate too, so the practice carries over.

Practise the reclaimer boarding timing on low-stakes rounds so you can claim the drone before other Raiders when the map condition rolls again. The race for the reclaimer is the real skill check, and it is the part players get wrong most often.

Re-check the Frigate's loot table after a few more clears. Embark has not published it, so community data is the only source for now, and the picture will firm up as more players board and extract.